


Orphan

by draginfyre16



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Anxiety, Dean drinks too much, Emotions, Referenced Death, Worry, castiel doesn't know parenting, i edited this when I should be sleeping, jack gets worried, jack is young but can do research apparently, maybe destiel if you really squint?, referenced child death, set somewhere in season 13 I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:15:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28768428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/draginfyre16/pseuds/draginfyre16
Summary: Jack stumbles across an unfamiliar word and Castiel gets the job of explaining it. This results in a change in behaviour and a bit more anxiety in the bunker.
Kudos: 10





	Orphan

**Author's Note:**

> Something that came to mind at some point. Set somewhere in season 13, I guess? Enjoy!

Jack is doing research for Sam the first time he stumbles across the word.

One tiny word, just six letters. 

"Orphan.”

Buried in a news article about a recent murder: _Leah Monroe leaves behind two children, ages 9 and 14, along with her niece and nephew, newly orphaned through a tragic car accident last week._

Jack might be new to Earth but even he knows that the word has a bad meaning.

Cas is sitting opposite him, watching. He catches the brief hesitation and the slight frown. "Is something wrong?"

Jack hesitates again, which is unusual. "Cas...what's an orphan?"

It’s the angel's turn to pause. "Well...it's what some people might say you are, Jack. It's used to describe a child who doesn't have parents."

Jack frowns. "Oh."

"But you're not." Your father is still alive, Cas is tempted to add. But they want to keep Jack as far away from that path as possible, so he refrains from saying the second part.

"I know. I have you and Dean and Sam."

Cas tries to smile but the image of Kelly's death is still a little too fresh.

Jack's own smile fades a little. "If 'orphan' means a child with no parents...what's the word for parents who have lost a child?"

"There isn't one. I suppose that's a reality too terrible to even comprehend.” Cas senses Jack struggling with the idea and guesses that if Jack was human and had parents, he might have nightmares. A logical fear, right? Children losing their parents?

The next time Dean goes on a solo hunt to deal with a ghost a few towns over, Cas tilts his head very slightly in Jack's direction as he warns Dean to be careful.  
And if Dean replies, "Yeah," in a tone a bit more patient than usual, well, Cas doesn't react.

Dean is gone for a day and a half.  
Jack tries to hide his worry but Cas can tell that he's afraid that Dean won't come back, even though Dean doesn't seem to like him much. It's written in the way that Jack can't focus, how he watches the door, and how he follows Sam around because if Sam isn't worried then it means that he doesn't have to be either.  
Thankfully, Dean comes home with no injuries and Jack can relax for a few days.

The fear never completely leaves, though, and Cas understands because sometimes he's still afraid that the brothers will get killed while he's off somewhere else.

When the brothers are gone for three nights on a hunt that was only supposed to take two, Jack has to fight the urge to ask Cas to go look for them.  
Cas assures him that they're fine, they would have called if they needed help, but neither of them can fully relax.

When the brothers get home, Jack jumps up to meet them in the main room.  
Cas can see Jack's worry in how he asks them if they're alright and what happened and how he hovers around like he wants to help but isn't sure how.  
Sam assures him that they're fine but Jack still can't completely relax.

Maybe Cas should have a talk with Sam about letting Jack do research because Jack has been a bit on edge ever since he read the article about Leah Monroe. He can see it in the nephilim's behaviour when the brothers come back from hunting a pair of ghouls and Sam is limping with a bit of a concussion and Dean has a black eye and a bloody nose and two cracked ribs from being thrown against a bookshelf.

It comes out when Sam gets the flu and is sick for two weeks before he finally shakes it.

He carries an anxious air when Dean drinks enough to intoxicate a small army on a night they couldn't save two siblings, a boy (age six), and a girl (age ten).

Even with all the worry, Cas can see that Jack doesn't quite know what to do to help. Jack hasn't spent enough time with the Winchesters to know how to help. And helping becomes especially hard when having to deal with the level of emotional repression that has been drilled into the Winchesters. The coping mechanisms of violence and alcohol aren't a great help either.

Cas isn't quite sure how to help Jack. After all, it's not like he has any experience raising a child.  
Dean is good with kids but his approach of tough love and authority wouldn't help much in this case anyway, even if he could stand to look at the Nephilim for more than two seconds.

And the sad and horrible reality was, of course, that humans died all the time. Sam and Dean could very well die without being on a hunt: car crashes were common enough, humans got sick, and it would surprise absolutely no one if Dean had a heart attack or drank himself to death.  
Cas and Jack would be on Earth for a long time after they died. And even if they themselves died, it didn't guarantee that they would see the brothers again - angels went to the Empty and Cas wasn't quite sure where Jack would end up.

The angel can't help but wonder if the Winchesters know how Jack feels.  
He thinks Sam might suspect that something's wrong. Sam is always patient with Jack but his words are more reassuring now. More of "Yes, we'll be careful," and "We've done this before, we'll be alright," and "You don't have to worry, we'll be fine."  
And Dean...well, Cas still finds it hard to tell what Dean's thinking, sometimes.

As they're eating one night, Jack asks some version of, "You guys are coming back, right? Two days? I don't want to...be alone."

"Alone?" Sam repeats, sounding surprised. "Not as long as you have us here. And if anything...did happen to us, you always have Cas."

"I know but I was researching and it talked about orphans and -"

As soon as Jack mentions that word, Dean drops his fork and gets up. He grabs his beer and heads down the hallway. Sam goes to follow but Cas shakes his head and goes after the older Winchester. He finds Dean in his room, staring down at an old photo of him and his mother. "Dean? Are you alright?"

Dean straightens and turns around, any emotion wiped off his face. "Yeah, fine," he says with a short nod.

Cas tilts his head slightly. "Are you sure?"

Dean shrugs and Cas - again - silently curses John Winchester for what he'd done to his oldest son. "Dean, you can talk to me."

Dean sighs. "I know that, Cas." He takes a sip of beer and Cas waits quietly for him to continue. "I guess when Jack mentioned it...it just brought back a few things."

Cas nods. "I know."

It could be argued that Sam and Dean became orphans on the night of the fire in 1983. John Winchester hadn't physically died but the boys had lost the father they'd known. Maybe John's old self had died, replaced by one that was drunk and violent and demanding. No doubt Dean was also thinking of the two siblings that had died a few months back.

Dean takes another sip and says awkwardly, "I...guess I just don't want the same thing to happen to Jack."

Cas frowns. "I thought you hated him."

Dean doesn't answer that.

"And I don't think it would. Do you?"

In a moment of rare honesty, Dean looks at him for a moment and says, "If you or Sam bit it and I couldn't get you back...I couldn't promise you that it wouldn't."

He averts his eyes and takes another swallow of beer and Cas can sense a faint, lingering fear of John Winchester. Or maybe fear of becoming John Winchester?

"I'm not going anywhere," the angel replies after a moment. "And Sam...I won't let anything happen to you or him either."

"Might not have a choice. Our job ain't exactly a joyride."

"True," he acknowledges quietly. "But I'll do my best. And if anything was to happen to you or Sam...I'll do my best to look after Jack."

Dean nods but can't quite smile and his eyes move back to the picture on the nightstand.

Cas watches him with a near-silent sigh.

Orphan.  
Such a heavy word. Six small letters with so much weight and potential trauma.

In that moment, Cas looks at the roof and makes another silent promise to Kelly.  
A promise that no matter what, her son will never be an orphan.


End file.
